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FISHING FESTIVAL SET FOR APRIL 19

Cal U and the California
community again will collaborate to present the 19th annual Pike Run
Youth Fishing Festival, set for 8 a.m.-3 p.m. April 19 at
Rotary Park, off Route 88 (Third Street) in California.

The free event
is open to boys and girls ages 15 and younger. A parent, guardian or other
responsible adult must accompany children younger than 13.

Participants
may bring their own fishing gear, or they can borrow equipment from a Cal U
student volunteer as part of the state Fish and Boat Commission’s
Borrow-A-Rod-and-Reel program. Expert fishing guides will be on hand to answer
questions or help young anglers learn how to catch trout.

The Pike Run
Fishing Festival Committee will stock the stream with nearly 600 rainbow,
brook, brown and golden trout, some as long as 24 inches. As it has done in the
past, the committee will provide entertainment and food for the event.

Registration
begins at 7 a.m. Along
with excellent fishing, participants can look forward to family-friendly games,
raffles, fishing contests and many other activities.

Vendors will sell
bait, tackle, food and beverages at the park.

The festival
closes with a
weigh-in, prizes and the awarding of trophies.

Youngsters are
encouraged to help stock the stream at 2 p.m. April 18.

Dr. John
Confer, faculty adviser for the event, said this successful collaboration
between the University and the community has attracted 160 to 200 youth participants
in each of the past seven years.

Held annually in April — National Children
and Nature Awareness Month — the festival also celebrates Earth Day. It is
co-sponsored by the Student Government Association, Cal U’s Department of Earth
Sciences and its Parks and Recreation Management program, and the Cal U Eco-Learning
Community, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission,
California Rotary, the Borough of California and the California Borough
Recreation Authority.

For more information, contact festival
program chair Steven Colaizzi at col9905@calu.edu or Dr. John Confer at
724-938-4211, confer@calu.edu; visit the Pike Run Youth Fishing Festival website at
http://workforce.calu.edu/confer/PRYFF/; or search for “Annual Pike Run Youth Fishing Festival” on
Facebook.com.